Behind Every Mask
by Durian the Peacebringer
Summary: Everyone wears a mask, even the most honest of people. Unfortunately there are times when these masks come crashing down and everything about you is revealed for the world to see, and it always happens in front of the person that shouldn't see it.
1. Chapter 1

**Behind Every Mask**

Chapter 1

Sasuke could feel his enemy stalking him. His senses picked up everything and his muscles twitched at every little sound, smell or change in the scenery. The feeling of being trapped greatly disturbed him, bringing back unpleasant memories from missions. His hand trembled slightly as he held his kunai at the ready, doing all he could to calm his breathing and focus in on where the chakra was coming from. If he didn't figure out where his opponent was or what to do next, he was surely a dead man.

'Calm down,' he though to himself, 'it's okay. You can make it out of this. Just keep a level head and a clear mind. You can do this.' He gripped the kunai and looked to his left, a small sound attracting his attention. 'I got this!' He through several shurikens toward a bush and leaped to the right.

As soon as he landed however, he felt wires coil around his entire being and a blond-haired boy stood above the Uchiha, a foot placed triumphantly on the raven-haired boys chest. "You know Sasuke, if you move those wires will only constrict and cut deeper. If you attack me you'll only find I'm a clone. If you mange to break free from the wire it'll explode. Assuming you escape this situation I have several clones waiting to ambush you in key positions and traps set all around this area. There's only one thing you can do to win."

"And what is that you baka?" Sasuke said it with a small degree of contempt. This wasn't the first time Naruto had won.

"You have a fat wallet and I have a slim stomach!" Naruto smirked and crossed his arms over his chest.

Sasuke leaned his head back in defeat. "Fine. You win. Again."

Soon after the two found themselves sitting at Ichiraku Ramen, Naruto shoveling his third serving the giganto-bowl into his mouth. Sasuke was content with his small bowl and kept thinking through everything that had happened. He still couldn't believe he'd lost yet another time. The official count was near 27-0, Naruto in the lead. It was rediculous.

"So," said a female's voice from behind the two boys, "how'd it go?"

Sakura sat next to them and Kakashi sat next to Sakura.

"Sasuke is a cheater!" screamed Naruto as he slammed down his empty bowl. "I don't know how that bastard does it but he always beats me!" Naruto then began pretending to sulk and turned away.

Sakura just laughed. "Well of course you lost Naruto, Sasuke is the best!" She flashed the object of her crush a huge, adoring smile and sighed as her mind went into a land of hopeless romance.

'Thank you, Naruto,' thought Sasuke. It wasn't fair that Naruto had to take all of this hatred from Sakura and Sasuke had to take all the credit, but the alternative was worse.

Out of the corner of his eye Sasuke spotted Ayame slipping Naruto a small note. It was their business and Sasuke knew to stay out of it. Now if only he could slip past Sakura unnoticed like the note had escaped everyone's attention. That would be a skill worth having, the ability to sneak away from your fan-club without getting mauled for it or tied up and tortured for trying to leave.

Sasuke cleared his throat. "Kakashi sensei, what are we going to do tomorrow?"

The jonin looked over from his little book and gave his little eye smile. "We'll be taking a break tomorrow. The day after we'll meet at the cliff-side spot we use for camping and we'll be training there for a couple weeks."

Naruto's face hit the floor as he heard this and his foot began twitching. Sasuke also had reservations about this idea, but it was always best to do as sensei said. If not, then punishment."

Sakura however had no problem with any of this. She instantly began speaking about how she and Sasuke were going to have so much fun and how she couldn't wait to see him in action and about how he was so cool and about how he was so awesome and about how he was so char...

Sasuke tuned out the pink-haired girl and groaned inwardly. It was bad enough training with Naruto a few times a week one-on-one, but having to put up with two weeks, or more, of having Naruto hold back and act like an idiot was more than Sasuke could even conceive as manageable. Something, anything, had to be done. Then he felt Naruto pat his back as the blond exited the stall. 'Well,' thought Sasuke, 'if he's okay with it then I guess we'll be fine.'

Sasuke turned for but a brief moment to glance at the blond walking away. Naruto sauntered through the town, his feet already knowing the path home after traversing it a hundred times previously. He kept his eyes down so as not to make eye-contact with any of the villagers. He carefully side stepped out of everyone's way so that no physical contact was made either. Within moments Naruto was lost in the fray of people and no longer visible by anyone at Ichiraku even though he wore orange.

'Two weeks or more?' thought Naruto. 'It's not too bad I guess. It might give me some extra time to give Sasuke some more one-on-one instruction.' He looked up at the setting sun as he walked onto his street and saw it sinking slowly into the horizon. It was something that he never got used to, something that made his skin crawl in a good way.

Unfortunately that night was rather restless for the blond and he found himself pacing about his room more than sleeping. It wasn't common, but when it happened it was a huge nuisance. No rest meant less energy, but that wasn't too much of a worry for Naruto. What worried him was when he couldn't sleep for days on end and the seal began to weaken. He needed to find an extra seal to place over the current one to strengthen it yet keep from blocking the chakra flow. Naruto sighed and pulled out a scroll. When he couldn't rest he read.

It was a scroll about seals. It was a level 5 forbidden seal lesson that he had to pull some strings for. He got it, but it had to stay secret. As Naruto read he took notes on another scroll, all the while attempting to stay still. It was a losing battle though, and Naruto found himself changing positions far too often to effectively record his thoughts and take notes. He found himself having to reread entire passages to make sure he understood them. It was truly a problem at this point and there was no other choice. Naruto stood up and looked at the clock. He'd gotten in a good two hours of study, but now it was time to move around.

He put on pants and a long-sleeved shirt that were navy blue and jumped out his window. The cool night air soothed Naruto, but it still didn't get rid of his restless feeling. At least tomorrow he could sleep in if he got back in the early morning. Soon his feet were carrying him effortlessly over the roof tops and toward destination unknown to the conscious mind.

Yet fate could not rest its hand either, and it awoke Sakura to share in the nightly escapade. She found herself staring at her ceiling, feeling indecent and insecure about everything. For a young girl of 13 with raging hormones and a mind slightly more mature than most her age, life was very confusing. She wrapped the blanket tightly around her naked body and wished that her body wasn't feeling the way it was. She despised awaking from that kind of a dream about Sasuke.

The urge welled up inside of her, but the lack of courage held it back, until soon the urge to run outside and rid the feeling through physical exertion over rode her thoughts. Instinct kicked in and she put on some clothes before walking outside and beginning to jog. This wasn't the first time, but this time was the first time she'd resorted to going outside to run it off.

Her instincts guided her along, her feet deciding where to go whilst her mind did all it could to distract itself. Yet all the while fate nudged her around this corner, into this alleyway, over that fence and eventually down a wide street. The wheels were in motion, the boulder had been pushed just over the edge, and now fate merely had to sit back and watch everything coast on its own accord toward the bottom of the mountain of destiny.

Of course Sakura didn't realize what was happening. All she knew was that she found herself at a park and jogging toward a pond. It looked calm and empty, until a small movement caught her eye. Instinct was still guiding her actions and when the figure of a human bent to pick something up she dove behind a tree. It took her a moment to regain full consciousness and to calm her breathing to a steady rate. Then she peered around the tree and saw Naruto skipping rocks across the pond.

'Naruto?' she pondered. 'Why would he be here? And why is he wearing that awful dark blue?' She stood up and walked towards him. "Naruto?" she said.

The blond turned and looked at her, his blue eyes staring directly into her emerald eyes. She stopped and stood perfectly still, because what she saw struck her down to the foundation.

Here you go. As you can tell my writing has drastically improved and, honestly, I wanted to redo these stories because I see no sense ruining a perfectly good story by deleting it. Instead, I'll be editing them and posting regularly. About once a week or every other week, depending how things work out.

Anyhow, here you all go. A revision of chapter 1, which I hope you all love more than the original!


	2. Chapter 2

**Behind Every Mask**

Chapter 2

Naruto's eyes contained a deep pain that swept over Sakura and stabbed at her heart. This was something that she had never seen before in the young boy. He was always smiling and happy, joking around about everything and never taking anything seriously. He was loud and obnoxious because he wanted attention. Silent with eyes filled with pain wasn't Naruto.

"Naruto?"

The blond nodded and picked up another stone. "What are you doing up so late, Sakura?"

"I should be asking you that!" She stepped up beside him and placed a hand on his shoulder. "What's going on?"

The boy gently moved his shoulder from under her touch and skipped another rock across the pond. "I'm just out for a walk."

Sakura stood beside him and watched the water ripple after each skip of a rock. "Why are you out here though?"

Naruto maintained his silence and sat down in the grass, leaning back on his hands and watching the water. Sakura did the same and waited for him to speak. Seconds passed, and those turned into minutes, those minutes became ten minutes, fifteen minutes, half an hour. Naruto was perfectly silent and just staring with dead eyes at the water. Sakura couldn't stand it any more, Naruto wasn't supposed to act this way.

She pushed him onto the ground and pinned him, staring into his eyes. "Naruto, what's going on?" she said in a raised voice.

"Quiet," whispered Naruto. "Too much noise gives me a headache." Sakura reeled away a bit and ruffled her brow. This most definitely was not the Naruto she knew. Who was he?

The pink-haired girl leaned closer and said softly, "Naruto, tell me what's wrong." Part of her couldn't believe what was going on. Why would she care if something was wrong with him? Rather, why should she care if something was wrong with him? He didn't mean anything to her, he was just a pest that got between her and Sasuke! Yet her heart couldn't stop itself from caring, she couldn't stop herself from wanting to help.

Naruto sighed and looked up at her. "I just couldn't sleep."

"Is there a reason why?"

Naruto nodded and suddenly tears sprung into his eyes. "Memories, the past, thoughts, what's happening..." he trailed off and suddenly a seal flashed in his left eye. He winced and shut it, covering it with his hand just in time so that the Sakura couldn't see. Sakura could see however that Naruto was in pain but couldn't figure out why.

"Naruto?" She held his face in her hands and became worried. Naruto's breathing quickened and tears streaked down his cheeks and over Sakura's hands. "Naruto?" the pink-haired girl shook him and bit her lip. 'Naruto, don't do this to me!' she thought. Suddenly, Naruto's body relaxed and his head lolled to the side.

"Eh?" Sakura gently shook him, only to find that Naruto had fainted. "Shit," she said. "What do I do with him?" She could leave him here, but then he'd probably catch a cold. She could take him to his home, but she didn't know where he lived. She could take him somewhere else, but everyone was asleep right now and no one would answer. The only option left was to carry him to her home and try to keep it a secret from her mother. One of those ideas that sounds great at the moment, but once you think it through you ask yourself how you expected it to even work.

The young girl focused some chakra into her legs and lower back, draped Naruto over her shoulders and began walking home. Without her chakra channeling training, carrying the boy would have been impossible. Finally one of Kakashi's lessons had paid off. Little did Sakura realize, a lot of his lessons would soon pay off. For now though, she simply took one step at a time toward home, sticking to the shadows so as not to be seen.

A few minutes later she was laying the boy on her bed and climbing in next to him. She glanced at the clock on her dresser and saw that it was only one in the morning. She would still be able to get plenty of sleep before her mother woke her up. Sakura pulled the blanket up over both of them and thought to herself, 'this isn't too bad. At least this time we have a comfortable bed, a nice blanket and a soft pillow unlike that one mission we had. Rather, Naruto didn't have anything to stay warm with or something to rest his head on because he gave them to me...' this was her last thought as she lulled into a restful sleep, no longer troubled by any dreams.

Naruto however didn't get to be so lucky. He was trapped in his own mind, staring at the Kyuubi. The giant fox glared out from behind his cage and the water around him boiled, filling the room with steam. Naruto looked around and saw the same thing from last time, a floor filled with water up to his ankles and metal walls that were oozing moisture. The lighting was dim at best and gave off a subtle yellow-orange tint.

"Hello, boy," the Kyuubi said in a deep grumble of a voice.

"Hi, Kyuubi," muttered Naruto. He turned around and saw a door. "What's that?"

"That's a door you idiot."

"Where does it go?"

"Why haven't you explored it?"

"I've never seen it before."

The Kyuubi chuckled. "That's because you've never turned around before."

Naruto clenched his fist. He hated it when the Kyuubi was right like that. He also hated being near the damn thing, and he especially hated not being able to leave it and go explore somewhere else. He smiled. This was his chance to finally go do something in his mind that didn't involve the damn fox.

"I'm leaving for a while," said Naruto.

"Where are you going?" the Kyuubi asked annoyed.

"Away from you." With that the blond walked to the door and opened it, staring into a hallway with metal walls and a metal ceiling just like the giant room the fox was in, and trudged through the water.

The first thing Naruto noticed was that the hallway was perfectly straight and traveled in one direction. The next thing he noticed were all the doors lining both sides of the hallway. He wanted to explore, but he needed a method of finding his way back to the Kyuubi. He reached into his pocket and, to his surprise, found a small piece of paper. He pulled it out and read the seal; Kyuubi Room.

He turned it over and read the other side; Place note on door. To return, say, "return seal."

'Simple enough,' thought Naruto as he placed the piece of paper on the door and began walking to his left. 'I wonder what I'll find.'

The first door he encountered was on his right side and the door appeared to be slightly ajar. He pushed it open the rest of the way and stepped in. What he saw delighted him beyond belief. "A dry floor!" he gasped as he stepped up onto the raised floor. He looked down and marveled at what he saw. The floor had a soft carpet and there wasn't a bit of moisture on it. He took of his shoes and let his toes explore the fibrous material in ecstasy.

Then the blond looked up and saw the true marvel of the room. The room was circular and at least five stories tall. Lining the walls were rows and rows of empty book cases, yet he had a feeling that they wouldn't be empty for long. A spiral staircase wound its way all the way to the top and visited every book case along the way. What really caught his attention however was the fire pit in the center of the room, burning with a soft, warm flame. A total luxury amongst the cold water that lapped at the edge of the raised floor.

Naruto crawled next to the fire pit and huddled close to the warmth. "Oh yes," he said, "now this is what I'm talking about." He sighed and soon found himself stretched out beside the fire, staring up at the ceiling. There was a seal that looked exactly like the one on his stomach up there, and he let his eyes follow every little line, studying its construction and each little detail behind it. He loved seals. They were like formulas, every little piece fitting together to make a whole, working flawlessly like clockwork.

He mused over how the energy flowed outward from the center and how it would mingle around the edges with his own. He activated the seal in his left eye and began studying every intricate nook and cranny, something he couldn't very effectively do normally. The times he had tried to he had used a mirror, and it only confused him trying to switch everything around in his mind, plus the seal in his eye got false readings from the flipped image. Something he didn't enjoy because it gave him headaches.

This on the other hand was a rare opportunity to spend some time alone, peacefully analyzing the blasted seal that had plagued his life since the day of his birth. Something that had caused more trouble than benefit in the long run. Like the time he had gone swimming and someone saw it while he was...

Naruto closed his eyes and held back tears. He couldn't go there. Not again. It was the past and had to stay in the past, he couldn't afford to let it dig its way up to the present and hold him back. The blond shook slightly from the effort of holing back the torrent of emotions threatening to overwhelm him, the typhoon of tears ready to rampage down his face in a cascade of sadness and frustration. The amount of emotion suddenly came crashing down and flooded his mind.

Naruto awoke with a little bit of a start, opening his eyes to the light raining down upon his face. He rubbed his eyes and sat up, ready to close the blinds. Then he stopped and realized that this wasn't his room. His walls weren't a soft pink. Not an obnoxious pink or an annoying pink, but rather a pink that was seen during a sunrise or sunset. It was a warm but calming pink that made you feel good and somewhat peaceful. Despite this observation however, it still wasn't his room.

He turned a little as he heard a sound, and looked at Sakura. She was turned away and was just finishing putting on her bra. Naruto's face turned bright red as he realized he was in her room and that he was in the presence of a young woman that was changing. Luckily she had on her battle shorts so she was at least mostly decent.

Unfortunately, Sakura turned just in time to see the poor boy looking. That's when he began sweating bullets and didn't know what to do. He'd been stabbed, sliced open, punched, kicked, tossed around, charred, frozen, crushed, slapped and even tortured; but not once in his entire life had he ever been caught looking at a woman during a moment of indecency.

He looked away and stammered out the words, "I'm sorry, Sakura!"

To his amazement however, she replied softly, "oh, you're awake."

Naruto doubled back in his mind and dared looking toward her, careful to look only into her eyes. "What?"

She blushed a little as she slid on her favorite red dress. "We've been to the bath house as a team before and Kakashi has had us do training nearly naked while enduring the elements together. It's not like you're seeing anything you haven't seen before." She couldn't stop blushing though, because this was different. He was in her room, and she had actually brought him here. Plus, if someone, anyone, found out about it, she'd be dead.

"So...you're..." Naruto proceeded with caution with what he was saying, "okay with this?"

Sakura nodded and sat next to him. "Just don't try anything or else I'll kick your ass." Naruto nodded in response as both of them sat there silently and somewhat awkwardly. "So," Sakura began, "are you-"

Suddenly a knock at the door was heard. "Sakura? Breakfast is almost ready."

The pink-haired girl leaped up and shoved Naruto under the covers, applying a quick genjutsu to the pile of boy and blankets so that they virtually disappeared. "Okay mom! I'll be right down!" She hurried to the door and double checked it was locked. After the sound of her mother's receding steps went out of hearing range. She let out a sigh of relief and turned back to her bed. "She's gone."

Naruto peeked out from under the blankets and looked at the girl. "First of all, what do we do? Second of all, why the hell am I here?"

Sakura was slightly disturbed by how calm Naruto was being, but she'd seen it before during stressful situations. Even this thick-skulled idiot knew when to be quiet at times, but it was disconcerting. "You fainted last night at the park so I brought you home. I...guess I didn't really think it through."

Naruto nodded and sat up.

"Wait here for now while I go get breakfast. I'll bring you something." She turned around and slid out of the door, knowing that no one would be up here any time soon and that no one would see her current hidden friend. That's a thought that struck her. Naruto was her...friend.

A friend that was now sitting in a girl's room, on her bed and attempting to keep his eyes from wandering around. It was a rather neat and tidy room, but there were still pictures, trinkets, books and scrolls laying all around that Naruto didn't want to go looking through due to his curiosity getting the best of him. He climbed off the bed and lied down on the floor, staring up at the ceiling as he cast a genjutus that would allow him to blend in with the rug he was lying on. While he waited for Sakura, there wasn't much he could do, but there was plenty of time to think, and think he did. The seal that was on his stomach was beginning to make more sense now that he'd been able to see a clear image of it.

The blond boy began rifling through the volumes of information stored within his mind about seals, especially forbidden seals. He hadn't been able to get a hold of too many scrolls and books about them, but the ones he did manage to get a hold of were quite useful. The problem here was identifying the different layers involved in his seal and attempting to formulate a secondary seal to go over it that would help reduce the amount of chakra he drew from the Kyuubi while maintaining the function of replenishing his during combat. Naruto was deep in thought as the door opened, so he didn't notice the sound. He was too busy piecing together snippets of his knowledge and figuring out how to apply it, and just as he was about to make a breakthrough, his concentration shattered.

Standing right above him was Sakura, but she was totally unaware of where Naruto was hidden at that exact moment because of the genjutsu. What was the worst part about all of this however was the fact that Naruto was staring straight up Sakura's dress. He couldn't stop the nose bleed that came spurting from his nose, but he could certainly close his eyes.

"Naruto?" he heard the inquisitive voice of Sakura ask.

"You're standing on me," replied the blond.

Sakura moved her foot and looked down, stepping back just enough so that Naruto was no longer looking where he shouldn't. As the genjutsu was dispelled, Naruto was seen lying on the floor with a blood trailing out of his nose.

Sakura's eyes looked critical at the exact moment she saw this and the pink-haired girl asked sternly, "Naruto, why is your nose bleeding?"

'Oh shit.' Naruto wiped it away on his sleeve and replied calmly, "I fell off the bed and hit my nose. Lucky I didn't make any noise, right?"

'I know it's a lie,' thought the girl, 'but at least he's trying to be polite. Might as well let him off the hook this once. I did get him into all of this afterall.' She smiled and knelt down next to him. "I have some breakfast for you. I hope you don't mind toast and an apple."

The boy sat up and took the food items held in Sakura's hands. "Actually, this isn't far from what I eat every morning."

Sakura stared at Naruto somewhat dumbfounded. "Really? I'd expect you to eat ramen for every meal!"

Naruto chuckled. "I'm kind of starting to hate ramen actually. It's all I can afford with how much we're paid for missions right now and it's getting old, but I always make sure to get plenty of other groceries during the month. A balanced diet is good for a ninja after all!" Naruto put on a cheesy grin and gave a thumbs up.

Sakura just shook her head. "Naruto finally grows tired of ramen after thirteen years of eating it." She stood up and sighed. "Hell, I remember when we were seven and Iruka would treat you to ramen every night of the week. I'd be walking home from the park with Ino and there you would be, stuffing your face with ramen!"

Naruto sighed in content as he finished the toast and apple. "So," he said, "what next?"

Sakura hung her head. "I have no idea. I hope I'm not sure how to get you out of here without being seen. I can't risk anyone knowing about this. We'll just have to wait until it's dark outside." Sakura looked at Naruto. "I hope I didn't ruin any of your plans."

The blond boy frowned and looked away. "Actually there was something I had planned today. Someone I had to meet."

The look of depression on the young boy's face nearly killed the pink-haired girl. She could hardly stand it. "Naruto," she said softly, "I...I'm sorry. I didn't know what to do last night and..."

Naruto put up his hand. "No, don't apologize. You didn't know. Besides, I have a way out of this." He pulled out a kunai from his sleeve and grinned. "You go ahead and go outside like normal. You can go do whatever you want, but if you're curious you can meet me at the old playground around noon."

Sakura nodded and got up. "You sure you know a way out of here?"

Naruto nodded.

"Alright. But if anyone catches you it's my ass on the line!" With that she turned around and left, being sure to close the door behind her.

She walked down the stairs and told her mother, "I'm going to go out for a bit mom."

"Alright sweety," replied Sakura's mom.

The pink-haired girl went out the door, glancing at the clock before doing so. It was only 9:23. Naruto told her that he wouldn't be at the park until noon. In the mean time Sakura would just have to find something to do and distract her from thinking about what Naruto was doing and keep her from worrying about whether or not he got out of her house unnoticed.


End file.
